The ‘great façade of nationality’: some considerations on Portuguese tourism and the multiple meanings of Estado Novo Portugal in travel literature
2013; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 5; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/1755182x.2012.758673
ISSN1755-1838
Autores Tópico(s)Cultural Identity and Heritage
ResumoAbstract Historians have explored the manipulation of tourism by twentieth-century European dictatorships as an instrument to define their imagined communities. Moreover, since tourism is a site of contact between foreign and domestic actors, dictatorships worked to tailor their message in consideration of international exchanges. However, the tourism programme of Portugal's Estado Novo dictatorship (1932–1974) remains largely unexplored. This paper takes these two considerations into account and asks how effective the Estado Novo was in delivering their propagandistic message to foreign travellers. I argue that Estado Novo propaganda was partially successful in delivering its message: visitors used the dictatorship's symbols but the meaning of those symbols was altered. Portuguese sources reveal a dialogue consistent with the dictatorship's emphasis on patriotism, paternalism and prudence as cures to the ills of the modern world. The iconography of Estado Novo propaganda – peasants, castles, beaches – emerged as primary points of interest in foreign accounts. However, these symbols were neutered and redeployed: foreigners saw these as charming at best, and examples of backwardness and political irrelevance at worst. As revealed in the records of the Portuguese foreign ministry, whose overseas embassies monitored international media, the dictatorship was unhappy with this failure.
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